The Written and the Oral Torah

Did you ever want to know what Torah really is? And what are the Talmud, Mishna, Midrash, etc.? Who were their authors? Watch this fascinating shiurim!

(Copied from chabad.org:) Scroll Down with Dr. Michael Chighel (*)

Scroll Down is a 10-part course designed to orient viewers on the process of the Torah’s transmission and exposition through the ages.
With deep insight and ample humor, Dr. Chighel leads a delightful tour among the people, places and events that have shaped the Jewish library.

Lesson 1. What Torah Thinks of Torah:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
How can the over-representation of Jewish Nobel Prize laureates be explained? The connection between intellectual excellence among Jews in secular studies and the literary tradition originating in the Torah.

Lesson 2. Moses and the Non-Prophets:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Given the incomparable significance of the Torah, what is the function of prophecy and of the prophetic books, the Neviim (”Prophets”) and Ketuvim (”Hagiographa”), composed after the Torah was given at Sinai? And why did the era of prophecy end?

Lesson 3. The Written and the Oral Torah:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
What is the “Oral Torah”? What role does the rabbinic tradition play vis-à-vis the Bible? The dialectical interplay, sanctioned at Sinai, between the Oral Torah and the Written Torah.

Lesson 4. Meta-Phor: Exploring Midrash:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Biblical exegesis, or the intrepretation (Drash) of the Torah, was part of the rabbinic tradition since the earliest literary period. What makes certain interpretations valid and others not? Why is interpretation needed altogether?

Lesson 5. The Great Assembly and the Pharisees:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Who decided which texts belonged to the biblical canon and which texts did not belong? The Oral Torah during the early, pre-mishnaic, periods.

Lesson 6. Boiling Point: The Mishnah Is Written:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi put the Oral Torah down on paper in the year 212 in the form known as the Mishna. What prompted this radical move in the history of Jewish literacy? What constitutes the Mishna? And what is its function in the Tradition?

Lesson 7. Boiling Over: The Talmud Is Redacted:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Since the redaction of the Talmud around the year 500, no single text apart from the Torah itself has played a more vital role in the preservation and development of Jewish education. What is the Talmud?

Lesson 8. All Set: The Codification of Jewish Law:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
The first half of the last millennium (1000-1500) experienced an explosion in Jewish literacy in many fields: Kabbalah, philosophy, biblical commentary, poetry, and, most notably, in the great codifications of Halakha (Jewish Law). How did these great Codes originate?

Lesson 9. As the World Turns: Modern Jewish Law:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
The second half of the last millennium (1500-today) saw still newer developments in Halakah as well as in other fields of literacy. How do these major literary trends (such as Hassidism) define Judaism today and into the future?

Lesson 10. Conclusion:Link to page with video (opens in new tab/window)
Concluding scientific postscript to the significance of the ever-expanding Jewish Library.